Traversing unit



Oct. 14, 1969 5. J. HORVATH 3, 7

TRAVERSING UNIT Filed Aug. 31, 1967 I 3 Sheets-Sheet l 25 w LEI y l K 5A INVENTOR 545.5 STEVEN .1. HORVATH v BY v fiIhMMMgM ATTORNEYS Oct. 14, 1969 .1. HORVATH TRAVERSING UNIT Filed Aug. m; 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 mm mm 6 3 2. 32. T t t mm 2. mm o e g e 0 g aha o 2 ,9 6/640)! ATTORNEYS Filed Aug. 51, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 m ms g,

H9 H2 H8 "5 I 6 4 ZNVENTOR STEVE/V J. HORVATH BY Y ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,472,467 TRAVERSING UNIT Steven J. Horvath, Port Credit, Ontario, Canada, assignor' t6 NRM Corporation, Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Filed Aug. 31, 1967, Ser. No. 664,743 Int. Cl. B6511 57/28 US. Cl. 242158.2 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE limits.

This invention relates generally as indicated to a traversing unit and more particularly to a traversing unit for the winding and unwinding of wire, cable and the like.

Traversing units for reel winding and unwinding generally employ a drive mechanism which must be reversed at the end of the traversing stroke. For example, units which operate with a single traversing screw require the screw to reverse rotational direction to change the direction of the traverse guide. The same is true with chain or loop systems in that the drive mechanism must be brought to a stop and in effect started again to change the direction of traverse. This creates a slight dwell or what might be termed backlash at the end of the traversing stroke. In the winding of wire or cable this tends to place more at the ends of the spool than at the center and creates an uneven spool diameter.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide a traversing unit obtaining substantially instantaneous traverse reversal.

Another object is the provision of a traversing unit utilizing twin screws or worms which are constantly driven thus avoiding the stop and start problems of prior art traversing drives.

A further object is the provision of a traverse unit having an adjustable traverse lay which can be changed during operation.

Yet a further object is the provision of a twin screw traversing unit having a carriage incorporating selectively engageable drive means for each of the screws.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shaftless take-up utilizing a traversing unit in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view partially broken away and in section of another 'form of traversing unit in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of such traversing unit as seen in FIG. 2 partially broken away;

3,472,467 Patented Oct. '14, 1969 FIG. 4 is a slightly enlarged vertical section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken substantially on the line 55 of FIG. 4 illustrating one of the air brakes employed in the traversing carriage.

The shaftless take-up illustrated in FIG. 1 may comprise side frames 1 and 2 between which near the lower edge thereof extends shaft 3 pivotally supporting triangular frames 4 and 5 also interconnected at their tops by rod 6. Arms 7 and 8 extend from the pivotal frames 4 and 5 and are connected at their top projecting ends to the rods 9 and 10 of pneumatic piston-cylinder assemblies 11 and 12 pivotally mounted as indicated at 13 on the tops of the side frames 1 and 2.

Pintles 15 and 16 are provided at the outer ends of the triangular frames 4 and 5 and hand wheels 17 may be employed to position such pintles. A drive unit shown generally at 18 may be employed to drive the pintle 15 which includes an offset pin 19 adapted to mesh with and rotate the reel held by the take-up.

The drive unit also includes a take-off shown generally at 20 which includes a drive chain 21 rotating the nearer of two parallel screws 22 and 23 journalled for rotation between stanchions 24 and 25 supported on cross frame 26 extending between the side frames 1 and 2. Within the stanchion 25, the screws or worms 22 and 23 are interconnected by l to 1 ratio gearing so that the screws are rotating continuously in opposite directions.

A carriage 28 is mounted on such screws and on the top thereof it is provided with four upstanding rollers 29 with somewhat shorter horizontal rollers being provided at the front and back as indicated at 30 and 31. The wire, cable, or the like to be wound is thus threaded through the rollers and onto the reel supported between the pintles 15 and 16. The carriage 28 includes two air brakes 33 and 34 and a limit switch, not shown, which will engage adjustable stops in the frame 26 to control the extent and direction of the traverse of the carriage. The operation of the traversing unit will become apparent following the detailed description of the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 2 through 5.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, it will be seen that the traversing unit there illustrated comprises end strands or stanchions and 41 which may be mounted on the top of the take-up in the same manner as illustrated in FIG. 1. Journalled in such stands as indicated at 42 are parallel worm shafts or screws 43 and 44 having threads thereon. The stand 41 includes a recess 45 into which the reduced diameter end 46 of the worm 44 projects and on which is keyed gear 48 held in place !by fastener 47. Such gear is identical to and in mesh with gear 49 keyed to shaft extension 50 extending from the worm driven by drive chain 54 imparts rotation to the worm 43 and thus the worm 44 in the opposite direction.

A support shaft 55 extends between the stands 40 and 43 through the recess 45 and cover 52. A sprocket 53 41 and is rcmovably held in place by a pair of socket set screws 56 at each end. At the opposite side of the unit there is provided two vertically spaced guide rods 57 and 58 which, like the shaft 55, are held in place by socket set screws indicated at 59. Such set screws are positioned in the Walls of inwardly extending bosses on the end stands 40 and 41 and such guide rods will be held firmly in place in the manner indicated. The rods 57 and 58 serve as guides for stop brackets 60 and 61, respectively. As shown, each stop bracket includes a. cylindrical portion extending axially along the respective guide rod as shown at 62 and 63, respectively, and a laterally projecting arm seen at 64 and 65. The arm 65 is threadedly connected to screw 66 and the end of such arm is bifurcated to straddle the rod 57 as indicated at 67 in FIG. 4. The

arm also includes a horizontally offset portion 68 through which is threaded adjustable stop member 69 held in adjusted position by nut 70.

The arm 64 includes a horizontally offset portion 72 seen more clearly in FIG. 2 threadedly engaged with screw 73 and the lower end of such arm is provided with adjustable stop 74 threaded therein held in adjusted position by nut 75. Each of the stops 69 and 74 are provided with heads seen at 76 which engage the opposite sides of the roller 77 on actuating arm 78 of limit switch 79. The limit switch is mounted on bracket 80 secured by fasteners 81 to the side wall 82 of carriage housing 83.

The engagement of the stops 69 and 74 by the limit switch arm controls both the direction and extent of traverse of the carriage 83. The position of the stops may be adjusted individually by rotation of the screws 73 and 66. This may be accomplished by rotation of the shafts 85 and 86 for the screws 73 and 66, respectively, which are connected to such screws by the bevel gearing shown at 87 and 88.

In addition to the side wall 82, the carriage housing 83 comprises a top wall 89, a bottom wall 90, a side wall 91, and end walls 92 and 93. Such walls may be held together by the fasteners indicated generally at 94. The screws 43 and 44 extend through sleeve bearings 96 in the end walls 92 and 93 as seen in FIG. 2. Accordingly, the screws are freely rotatable within such sleeve bearings and the carriage may move along such screws guided thereby.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 4 and 5, there is mounted on the underside of the bottom plate of the carriage housing 83 two air clutch assemblies 98 and 99 which are seen in more detail in FIG. 5. From such assemblies project worm shafts 100 and 101 respectively to which are secured worm gears 102 and 103. As seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, the worm gear 102 is in mesh with the screw or worm 44 while the worm gear 103 is in mesh with the screw 43. The worm gears are held to the respective shafts by pins 105 and each such shaft is journaled in the plates 89 and 90 by the bearings indicated at 106 and 107 with spacers 108 being provided between the worm gear and the bearing 106.

As seen in FIG. 5, each clutch or brake assembly comprises a main housing or base 110 secured to the bottom plate 90 of the carriage housing 83 by elongated fasteners shown at 111. A tap plate 112 is secured to the base through ring 113 by fasteners 114. A diaphragm 115 having a beaded peripheral edge seen at 116 is clamped between the plate and ring. A tapped port 118 is provided in the plate 112 for the connection thereto of an air line.

An axially slidable plate 119 having a plurality of radial projections 120 extending through slots 121 in the base 110 is urged against the ring 113 by springs 122. In the illustrated embodiment, there may be four such projections and springs equally peripherally spaced about the clutch assembly and such springs are seated in recesses in the base and sliding plate as shown.

The center of the base 110 is provided with a recess 125 into which the worm shaft 100 projects and an annular brake plate 126 is secured to the end of such shaft and annular brake linings 127 and 128 are provided on opposite sides thereof.

In operation, when air pressure is supplied through the tapped port 118, the diaphragm 115 presses against the sliding plate 120 compressing the springs 122 to compress the brake plate 126 between the brake linings 127 and 128 holding the shaft 100 against rotation. When the pressure is vented from the diaphragm 115, the springs 122 urge the plate 119 away from the brake lining 128 so that the shaft 100 is then free to rotate.

A work guiding assembly may, of course, be mounted on top of the upper plate 89 of the carriage housing 83 in much the same manner as shown in FIG. 1. Any form of work guiding device may, of course, be employed.

The operation of the traversing unit is now believed apparent. When the air clutch assemblies or brakes are deen-ergized, the worms 102 and 103 are free to rotate and the carriage 83 may be moved freely back and forth along the screws 43 and 44 either manually or at the di rection of the work passing through the work guide on top of the housing. When one of the air brakes is energized and the other is not, that worm gear 102 or 103 controlled thereby will be held against rotation and the entire carriage will be moved in the direction dictated by the screw rotating in mesh therewith. The Worm gear thus acts as a nut selectively held against rotation with respect to the associated screw. When the traverse stroke is completed, the stop at the end of the stroke will contact the limit switch arm which will in turn shift valving which will vent one brake and energize the other so that now the direction of travel of the carriage is controlled by the other screw. During such travel, the worm gear on the worm shaft which is free to rotate will simply rotate along the opposite screw as a rack and pinion.

It can now be seen that there is provided a traversing unit wherein backlash or dwell at the end of the stroke is eliminated so that an even distribution of the work on the reel is obtained. Moreover, the stops can readily be adjusted even during operation of the unit and, of course, a variable speed unit may be employed to drive the screws at any desired speed.

Other modes of applying the principles of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A traversing unit comprising a carriage, a pair of screws, drive means on said carriage respectively selectively engageable with said screws operative to move the carriage at the direction of the screw thus engaged, said drive means including a worm gear for each screw in mesh therewith, means for stopping rotation of one of said worm gears whereby said carriage will be moved by the screw and the stopped gear in mesh therewith; said last mentioned means including a support shaft for each worm gear journalled in said carriage, and brake means for each shaft thus to stop rotation of the gear thereon.

2. A traversing unit as set forth in claim 1 wherein said brake means each comprises a brake plate on the worm gear shaft, brake lining associated with said plate, and a movable spring loaded plate operative to clamp the brake plate against said lining.

3. A traversing unit as set forth in claim 2 including an air operated diaphragm operative to move said movable spring loaded plate to stop rotation of the respective worm gear.

4. A traversing unit as set forth in claim 1 including stands at opposite ends of said unit supporting said screws for rotation parallel to each other, and means to rotate said screws in opposite directions.

5. A traversing unit as set forth in claim 4 including independently adjustable stop means operative to control the drive means on said carriage.

6. A winding unit for reels of wire and the like comprising a stand, a pair of arms adapted to support such reel for rotation, drive means operative to rotate such reel thus supported, a traversing unit, a power take-off from said drive means for said traversing unit operative to drive the same, said traversing unit comprising a carriage, a pair of screws supporting said carriage, drive means on said carriage respectively selectively engageable with said screws operative to move the carriage at the direction of the screw thus engaged, said drive means on said carriage including a worm gear for each screw in mesh therewith, and brake means for stopping rotation of one of said worm gears whereby said carriage will be moved by the screw and the stopped gear in mesh therewith.

7. A winding unit as set forth in claim 6 including a support shaft for each Worm gear journalled in said carriage, said brake means being selectively operable to stop rotation of the shaft and the respective gear thereon.

8. A winding unit as set forth in claim 7 wherein said brake means each comprises a brake plate on the worm gear shaft, brake lining associated with said plate, and a movable spring loaded plate operative to clamp the brake plate against said lining.

9. A winding unit as set forth in claim 8 including an air operated diaphragm operative to move said movable spring loaded plate to stop rotation of the respective worm gear.

10. A winding unit as set forth in claim 6 including stands at opposite ends of said unit supporting said screws for rotation parallel to each other, and means to rotate 1 said screws in opposite directions.

11. A winding unit as set forth in claim 10 including independently adjustable stop means operative to control the drive means on said carriage.

eferences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Ragan.

Bryant.

Conner.

Schlang et al. a---" 242158.2 Hambach et a1.

Whitney.

Bruestle 242-586 X Grobman et a1 2425 8.6

Knapp 242151 X Pilcher.

5 STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

